Will Saudi Arabia Ease Ban on Women’s Sports?

Country called out for being one of the last to keep women from Olympics

by Lesley Kennedy • MORE.com Reporter

Even though many of our own mothers were not allowed to play sports in school in America, women’s athletics in this country have come a long way. Not true in Saudi Arabia.

Reuters reports that not only are girls’ sports banned in state-run schools but clerics punish females for even exercising. The country was recently called out by Human Rights Watch for being one of the last nations never to have sent a woman to compete in the Olympic Games, the news service adds.

But change could be in the air. According to Reuters, it’s possible after-school physical education may soon take place for both boys and girls. Yes, it’s a tiny change. But it’s better than clinging to the view of the country’s Supreme Council of Religious Scholars, which includes Sheikh Abdullah al-Maneea, who “said in 2009 that the excessive ‘movement and jumping’ needed in football and basketball might cause girls to tear their hymens and lose their virginity,” the news service reports.